Twitter Updates

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Many of you saw the email from Orrville High School AD Kent Smith yesterday, but in case you didn't or haven’t discovered it yet, here’s the big news:

There is now an OFFICIAL website for the Orrville High School Athletic Department and Red Rider Sports.

The website address is www.GoRedRiders.org and I’m so proud to have been a small part in the creation & implementation of the site. This will eventually be a “one-stop shop” for Red Riders news, schedules, photos, athletic forms, articles and information. The site will also be home to the Orrville Booster Club as well as the Orrville High School Sports Hall of Fame and their various functions.

Give the site a visit and I think you’ll be very pleased. The site design is clean and professional and allows you to connect in many different ways. You can subscribe via email, Facebook and/or Twitter if you prefer to communicate in those methods. Website updates will be send to Twitter & Facebook instantly while those who subscribe via email will receive an email each morning with the previous day’s articles. Updates from the athletic director will eventually be posted straight to the website instead of via an email list.

You will notice there are ads on the new site, I know that can be a “turn off” to some, but the ads help offset the very minimal startup cost of the site. There are no annual or monthly fees to operate the site, just a 1-time startup fee. The ads also are an opportunity for the local business community to support Red Rider Athletics by advertising on the site. The athletic department will receive a portion of the ad revenue generated on the site and every little bit helps. The company behind the framework of the site is called Varsity News Network and they have done sites similar to the new Orrville site for lots of schools around Ohio, including local schools like Green & Medina. All content on the site will be created by myself, AD Kent Smith or his secretary Deb Goudy and perhaps the occasional contributor (parent, yearbook staff, photographer etc.).

Please bear with us as we become more familiar with the site. Our goal is to have it fully functional for the fall sports season but I think it’s off to a great start. We’re really excited about the potential.

This was done to bring everything under one umbrella. My site (RedRiderSportsBlog.com) and my presence on Facebook & Twitter will be coming to an end over the summer in favor of the new school-supported pages and I’m thrilled that this new site will be there to pick up the torch and run with it.

Please take time to check out the new site and subscribe to email updates and make sure to follow us on Twitter and Like us on Facebook if that's your thing.

On a personal level, I wanted to thank those have always supported what I've done with my own website. What started as a simple idea in 2008 has brought hundreds of Red Rider fans together literally from all over the country and in some cases, overseas.

One of my most treasured memories in my time doing this site was when the boys basketball team was down at state a few years ago and I received a message from an Orrville alum serving in Iraq. As he was doing his part to keep himself and our country safe, he wanted to know how the Riders were doing. It was such an honor to be the one keeping him and many other OHS alums "in the know" and I hope to help continue that service.

To put it simply, I'm extremely proud of what I've managed to do with this site. Somehow I was able to crank out 500 posts (the post you're reading right now is #501) over 6+ years....all the while enjoying some great experiences and some heartbreaking moments...but always Red Rider Pride every step of the way. It was a lot of late nights, but I'd do it all again in a heartbeat. I truly felt a sense of responsibility to put my best work on this site for you all to read & enjoy.

This site won't go away overnight, but I will no longer be updating it and will be removing content and moving it over to the new site as time allows.

I’d humbly ask that you support the new website with the same enthusiasm that you've given my site for the last 6 years.